Bert Fish Medical Center moves forward with four providers

Bert Fish Medical Center is opening its doors to four providers interested in leasing, acquiring or partnering with the 112-bed taxpayer-supported hospital.

By Skyler Swisherskyler.swisher@news-jrnl.com

NEW SMYRNA BEACH — Bert Fish Medical Center is opening its doors to four providers interested in leasing, acquiring or partnering with the 112-bed taxpayer-supported hospital. The hospital’s board voted to spend 60 days talking with representatives from two local systems, Florida Hospital and Halifax Health, along with Brevard County-based Health First and Parrish Medical Center. “I am pleased with the number of responses we’ve gotten,” said Jim Kennedy, an attorney representing Bert Fish. “These are all first-rate organizations.” The respondents will now meet with hospital leaders, review data and formalize their proposals, Kennedy said. Four other respondents are out of the running for now. Bert Fish also received interest from Plano, Texas,-based Community Hospital Corp and Brentwood, Tennessee,-based HealthTech Management Services, along with two California providers — Pinnacle Healthcare Development and Prospect Medical Holdings Board members viewed the chosen hospitals as providers that already have a strong presence in the community. “I don’t see going to California as a viable option for our hospital in New Smyrna Beach,” said board member Tom DeSimone. To stay competitive in a changing health care landscape, Bert Fish officials say the hospital needs to merge with a larger system to increase its purchasing power and borrowing ability. Bert Fish has made two unsuccessful attempts at finding a partner in the past four years. The first deal fell apart because negotiations violated the Sunshine Law. During the second attempt, for-profit Health Management Associates Inc. tried to acquire Bert Fish, but HMA was purchased by another for-profit provider Community Health Systems before the Bert Fish deal was closed.Community Health Systems then closed negotiations because it didn’t want to acquire another hospital. Here is the background on the four providers Bert Fish will consider this time: • Florida Hospital operates five medical centers in Volusia and Flagler counties, along with 18 other campuses elsewhere in Central Florida. It tried to merge with Bert Fish four years ago, but a judge voided the deal because meetings were held in violation of the Sunshine Law. • Halifax Health is a 678-bed public hospital system with medical centers in Daytona Beach and Port Orange. The hospital system has submitted the most detailed proposal to date and is pledging to cut tax revenue Bert Fish receives in half in five years. The two hospitals were affiliated from 1997 to 2004, but the agreement fell apart amid political disagreements. Halifax has submitted proposals twice in the past four years to resume the partnership. • Health First, a not-for-profit provider based in Rockledge, operates an integrated health care system. Its system includes four hospitals, commercial and Medicare health plans, a multispecialty physicians group and four fitness centers. • Parrish Medical Center, a 210-bed public hospital, is based in Titusville. The hospital recently joined the Mayo Clinic Care Network.Although it has the ability to collect taxes, Parrish has not done so for the past two decades.